...Past lovers Dawson Cole (James Marsden) and Amanda Collier (Michelle Monaghan) are taken down memory lane in The Best of Me when they return home after the passing of a dear friend. They are forced to face not only each other but their past demons. I consider The Best of Me to be the most pragmatic movie I have seen. The film does use the common rich girl falls in love with a poor boy approach, but the events that take place after they meet aren't your classic Hollywood love story scenario, they allow the film to be relatable to a broad audience. The film transitions from the present to the past using flashbacks. You see the memories of Young Dawson (Luke Bracey) and Young Amanda (Liana Liberato). The flashbacks help show the audience how each character became the present version of themselves in detail. For many people, it would have been easier to understand if they had started the film with the younger characters then progressed to the older characters. I suspect the way the movie altered back and forth was to help maintain the audience interest in the film, by disabling their ability to know what was going to happen next like in many other popular love stories. The timeline of the movie is only one of my favorite things. I mostly enjoyed all...
Words: 673 - Pages: 3
...The novel ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ written by J.C Burke and the film ‘Stand by me’ written by Rob Reiner. These texts present the fact that relationships with people assist one’s journey of going into the World, people deal with obstacles differently and maturity brings great rewards. J.C.Burke uses descriptive language, dialogue, metaphors and idiomatic first person narration. The novel ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ written by J.C Burke and the film ‘Stand by me’ written by Rob Reiner. These texts present the fact that relationships with people assist one’s journey of going into the World, people deal with obstacles differently and maturity brings great rewards. J.C.Burke uses descriptive language, dialogue, metaphors and idiomatic first person narration. Going into the World can be a difficult and a daunting time which everyone can find hard to overcome. Going into the world can be defined as growing up when you may or may not be ready. Individuals venturing into the world will experience obstacles but with maturity and relationships the individual can gain significant rewards. This is clearly shown in the two following texts. Going into the World can be a difficult and a daunting time which everyone can find hard to overcome. Going into the world can be defined as growing up when you may or may not be ready. Individuals venturing into the world will experience obstacles but with maturity and relationships the individual can gain significant rewards. This is clearly shown...
Words: 338 - Pages: 2
...Stand By Me “Stand by Me” is a film about the journey of four boys from Castle Rock, Oregon, USA in search of a dead body. The film is directed by Rob Reiner, based on a book called “The Body” by Stephen King. I am going so concentrate on, and describe the main character of the story, Gordie LaChance who is played by Will Wheaton. I will show you how he is coming to terms with adulthood throughout the film. I will use camera techniques to show you this. The opening of the film enters with a long shot of ripened cornfields and a car placed at the side of the road. It is clearly autumn with winter on its way this matches Gordie's mood and time of life. The lighting in these first images suggest sunset and the day being over. The music is peaceful and full of emotion. The music straight away indicates loneliness. This environment tells us that the man in the car, Gordie LaChance is feeling lonely and sad. The emotions on his face and his body language tell us this also. A close up of a paper, which he is clutching in his hand, is the reason for this. The headline on the paper reads, “ Attorney Chris Chambers fatally stabbed in restaurant.” Chris was Gordie’s best friend when he was twelve years old. The directors have two boys cycle past the Landover and off into the distance in a point of view shot. This camera technique is excellent as it shows us boys cycling into the distance takes us to the past, as the structure of the film is a flashback. There is a zoom in from a medium...
Words: 1932 - Pages: 8
...“Stand By Me” is a film directed by Rob Reiner, which is based on the novella “The Body” by Stephen King. Stand By Me is the story of four twelve year olds living in a small town in the year 1959, whose lives were changed by a chance adventure that they embarked on at the end of an indolent summer. The four boys were Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman), and Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell). It fits into the film genre coming of age. This genre is outlines as a small group of individuals who have a life changing experience in the natural world. They are usually are the same sex, If not the opposing character would be more masculine/feminine and clearly more suited to hanging round with the group of the opposite sex. The director of the film is keen to show a very strong message, which is apparent though out the film. We are alone in this long journey to adulthood. He expresses this in a variety of ways. One method is cinematography. He frequently uses perspective and panoramic shots, which charts their long, eventful but beautiful journey to the back Harlow Road. The incoming train is another way Reiner shows the boys fear of adulthood. The train is a large, opposing and fast moving object; the threat is objective rather than impersonal. It is one of the imagery factors used he uses to add to his message. Other references to the adult world are seen as enclosed and often hazy, used...
Words: 1174 - Pages: 5
...Jocelyn Cortese Rob Hadaway M/W class Super Size Me Super Size Me Coming into class, I didn’t want to watch this film again. I had just watched it a few weeks prior in coach Stew’s class. All the troubles and problems that come along with eating fast food I already knew about but like the champ I am I watched it again. My intake of fast food is about 3 times per week usually consisting of in-n-out or waba grill. However, waba grill does not seem like fast food to me. I used to eat McDonalds on a weekly basis but for a while I stopped eating fast food altogether for soccer. When I went back to eating McDonald’s the food got me feeling sick right away, nauseous, and shaky. Then I remembered the guy in supersize me and he had felt the same way. Since then I don’t eat McDonalds. In class we’re being taught to examine major risk factors of cardiovascular disease, this is a disease that affects your arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible and strong. Over time, however, too much pressure in your arteries can make the walls thick and stiff — sometimes restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. This process is called hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis). Atherosclerosis is the most common form of this disorder. Atherosclerosis is also the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, and it's often caused by an unhealthy diet, lack of...
Words: 1197 - Pages: 5
...Review of the film "Stand By Me" 3/28/2016 Hum/150 Dr. Evans Stand By Me, is a coming-of-age story based off of the Stephen King short story entitled "The Body." The film could be categorized as a drama, adventure or comedy depending on which scene you are watching. I'm gonna label it an adventure, to me an adventure should be packed with a little bit of everything. Stand By Me takes place in the 1950's in rural Oregon. Four friends Gordy (Wil Wheaton), Chris(River Phoenix), Teddy(Corey Feldman) and Vern(Jerry O'Connell) embark n a treachorous hike to discover the body of a local boy who is presumed dead. During their trip they have to scramble for food, dodge trains, avoid local bullies, remove leeches and protect equipment from aterrifying dog named Chopper.Throughout their adventure the best buds also come to grips with issues in their personal lives There were many techniques used to help tell the story for Stand By Me. First off, most scenes involve all four of the main characters. This made me feel the togetherness of their group and showed how much of a bond they really had with each other. The sound was great, particularly the soundtrack. The oldies helped place you in the 50's, as well as the jargon used by the characters. The setting for most of the film was outdoors and most the time along the train tracks they were following. A lot of wide camera shots and angles were used to give the viewer a better idea of their surroundings and the...
Words: 690 - Pages: 3
...The True Identity of Questions and Discoveries Life is full of questions and discoveries. People question because they do not believe or trust in things or people. People discover because they want to find the answers to their questions. In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, the main character Antonio starts to discover and question beliefs and people. Antonio’s life changes when Ultima, a healer and her owl come to live with his family. Antonio’s mother is Catholic, but his father believes the llano has all the answers. Antonio is raised Catholic by his mother, but doubts God, especially after witnessing the death of Lupito and Narciso, and learning the legend of the golden carp. Ultima shares her pagan beliefs with Antonio, but...
Words: 1885 - Pages: 8
...Aglibot, Dianne A. 2006-33658 Math 100 October 14, 2010 Film Review: Despicable Me As a fan of Pixar’s genius, I really sought out to see this movie as soon as it came out. But before that, I exhausted all of the film’s hilarious and engaging theatrical trailers. I also went out of my way to read a couple of the movie’s review. It might not have garnered not-so-good ratings but the plot, the cast, and also a bit because of the music all made me finally decide to go check it out. No one out there would think that being a super villain is hard. Especially when he has thousands of yellow globular minions who are perpetually loyal and ready to help him achieve his next evil plot. All he needs is his freeze ray gun, a pet that looks like a Venus Fly Trap with hind legs, and an armored tank for a car. Meet Gru—the friendliest of the super villains. The worst he does is to steal things. Huge things, that is. He once set out to steal the Pyramid of Giza but found out there’s someone out there who got to it first. He doesn’t like it that his work gets shadowed by some new super villain. He then realized he needed to step up his game. Without a bigger get, his mother will never respect him, the Bank of Evil won’t finance him, and his Minions will end up unemployed. But what’s bigger than a pyramid? Look up. Gru wants to steal the moon. Turns out, Gru has always had the dream to rocket to the moon. So he now has a big chance to make a dream come true and get glory and...
Words: 984 - Pages: 4
...Case Study 3 Lean on Me Lean on Me was a powerful movie directed by John Avildsen that came to the theatres in 1989. The movie is about a principal in 1987 that returns to Eastside High School that’s filled with violence, gangs, and drugs. This principal, Joe Clark, vowed to himself and everyone in the community and legislature that he would turn the school around. Joe Clark’s character was played by Oscar winner, Morgan Freeman. The state legislature has mandated that 75% of all high school students must pass the state aptitude exam or the school will be shut down. Joe Clark (aka Morgan Freeman) used his unconventional approaches to turn this school around. He transformed the look of the school by ordering the graffiti covered and painted over. He expelled all of the drug users/sellers and any trouble makers from the school. At this point, he started track the halls of the schools, making sure every student was in class where they belonged. He held each teacher personally accountable for their students learning what was necessary to pass the state aptitude exam. This state aptitude exam is an organizational way that the state would survey the students’ learning. This is why Joe Clark held the teachers responsible for the students’ learning. Apparently, prior to Joe Clark going to Eastside High School, the leadership didn’t lead the students into fighting for their education. Joe Clark did that. Joe Clark fought for every student that he had that took the initiative to...
Words: 495 - Pages: 2
...different realities of a person or community in a way that the magical and the ordinary are seamlessly blended in one. There are many elements an author utilizes to create this type of fiction. Magical realist authors aim to write the ordinary as miraculous and uncover a reality of people or communities that are outside of the objective norm. Although magical realism is very similar to other genres of fiction, it has individual characteristics and elements that categorize it separately from fantasy. Authors of magical realism tend to use the literary device of personification to have ordinary objects and settings within their story, take on lives of their own in a way that is seen as normal to the characters. During the novel, Bless Me Ultima by...
Words: 1174 - Pages: 5
...The Film Super Size Me Ethical Paper Zhen J. Huang California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Introduction Take a look around when you go out, what do you see? Loads of fast food restaurants? Maybe McDonalds is the exact name. In the documentary film Super Size Me, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (2004) shows that fast food has become a fixture in the American culture, as well as other countries’ cultures. As Spurlock (2004) said in the film “what would happen if I ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days straight? Would I suddenly be on the fast track to becoming an obese American? Would it be unreasonably dangerous?” For this paper, I am going to discuss about the concerns of fast food, namely McDonalds by using three ethical theories: Hedonism, the Desire Theory, and Ethical Egoism. Hedonism: The Pleasure of the Super Size As Rabinowicz and Ronnow-Rasmussen (2005) explains, “an object is thought to be intrinsically valuable … depends on … final value if it is valuable ‘as an end’, ‘for its own sake’, rather than for the sake of something else” (p. 115). The kind of pleasure hedonists claim is always intrinsically valuable is health. If people know that they are healthy and are free of sickness or pain, they are living a good life, and a good life is a happy life. Basically, health contributes to happiness and the happier the person is, the better his/her life is going to be. According to Veenhoven (2003), “There is a longstanding discussion about the merits of this...
Words: 1462 - Pages: 6
...Bless Me, Ultima is a coming of story about a young boy’s journey towards spiritual awakening. Below the surface of this deceptively simple story lie powerful elements of binary opposition and symbolism that the author, Rudolfo Anaya, uses to help provide the backdrop to Antonio’s immersing journey and reveal the “curious mélange of elements” taught to him. Through these literary strategies, Anaya develops the intense conflict between the two sides of Antonio’s family, the mysticism of his surroundings and experiences and glimpses of what lay ahead. Antonio is a six-year-old boy who grows up in a home with conflicting lifestyles. His mother belongs to a devout Catholic family known as the Lunas, who consider themselves masters of the land and skilled farmers. They pride themselves in their humility and strong faith. Contrasting, is the Mares family, from which Antonio’s father was raised. The Mares are a wild bunch of vaqueros, horse-mounted workers, with a burning desire for adventure who take pleasure in handling their own matters without any one else’s authority. This poses a major conflict that is visited through the entirety of the book, between Antonio’s mother and father. While his mother prays incessantly that young Antonio grows up to be a priest and leader of the Lunas community, his father, contrastingly, hopes that his son will follow in the Mares footsteps as Antonio may be his last hope of leaving New Mexico and moving to the wilds of California. This binary opposition...
Words: 828 - Pages: 4
...Jacob Garcia Bless Me, Ultima Outline I. (Thesis Statement): Antonio Matures throughout his life with the help of Ultima and his family. He grows emotionally and spiritually over the course of the novel. II. (What is the first point you are making? SENTENCE) Antonios parents teach him the ways of Ultima. Makes antonio think about being a priest. A. (proof – not a sentence) She heals and does good for people. B. (quote or partial quote – with page number) “There isnt a family that she did not help...no road was to long for her to walk to its end to snatch somebody from the jaws of death.” (Anaya 3) III. Ultima comes to stay with him and teaches Antonio more about God. A. Antonio is curious as to what happen the night before and questions God. B. “ and more important me hijo, you must never judge who God forgives and who he doesn't.” (Anaya 33) IV. Antonio witness many deaths and a normal seven year old would not be able to stay and pray with a dead man in front of him. A normal one would run away scared to death. Antonio prays for Narsico at the tree B. “I knew I had to pray. I had to pray an Act of Contrition for his departing soul, like I prayed for Lupito. But I had not held Lupito while his body went cold.” V Antionio takes control of things at the end. He knows exactly what is going on and reacts like a man. A. he is trying...
Words: 345 - Pages: 2
...Reign Over Me Evaluation Depression affects all people. Reign Over Me is a movie that deals with a character in a grave state of depression. In Charlie Fineman’s (Adam Sandler) case depression hits hard and leads to a major behavioral change. Fineman blocks out major parts of his life including his college roommate, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle). After running into him on the street, it takes a while for this encounter to jog his memory of his best friend. We learn later that this depression is due the death of his three daughters and wife in a plane crash. The news devastates Fineman. He cannot function in society the same and loses purpose in life, as well as belief in himself. Instead of letting this distress out and working to recuperate, Fineman shuts everybody out and tries to hide from the truth. This can be a serious problem in today’s society. Many people are embarrassed or too hurt to try to move on and they let what happened dictate their individual future. In this film, directed by Mike Binder and produced by Jack Binder and Michael Rottenberg, the message of depression and its effects is relayed quite clearly. This movie relates to the real world very well; it also helps open up the eyes of many who do not understand what depression can do. Reign Over Me deals with a character who has the biggest part of his life taken from him in an instant. While others cannot tell how much Fineman is suffering by his actions, the loss of his family crushes him. Instead of...
Words: 901 - Pages: 4
...Bless Me Ultima was published in 1972 by Rudofo Anaya. The themes Anaya writes of are still applicable today, especially if you are an inhabitant of New Mexico. Many who live here have come to appreciate the multi-cultural influence we live with daily. Ours is a State that offers extreme geography, where we can easily attend church or seek a Shaman or Curandera. Though we are scattered among cities, small communities and isolated ranches, the spirit of the people still shines in times of trouble. Rudolfo Anaya writes that, “The supernatural and ordinary reality are worlds that exist side by side. I don’t believe the truth is out there, I believe it is within. To discover the truth and power within is to walk in the supernatural.” The novel Bless me Ultima has several examples that reflect Anaya’s comments. My favorite is a conversation between Antonio and his father. “Understanding does not come that easy, Tony—““You mean God doesn’t give understanding?’ “Understanding comes with life, “ he answered, “as a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, plays, meets people—sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end, understanding simply means having a sympathy for people,” he said. “Ultima has sympathy for people, and it is so complete that with it she can touch their souls and cure them---“ “That is her magic—“ “Ay and no greater magic can exist.” “But in the end, magic is magic, and one does not explain it so...
Words: 1836 - Pages: 8
